With the expansion of the Internet and global reach of many web services, content providers continually face the growing challenge of delivering content to users and user devices in an understandable and appropriate language and preferred format and style. In this regard, local language computing is a precursor to bridging the persisting digital divide. Without local language solutions, many rural and underdeveloped non-English speaking areas of the world will remain isolated from the information and innovation available on the Internet.
In order to reach a geographically diverse user base, web services (e.g., websites and web-based applications) wishing to display content in the language local to a user must either maintain an expansive library of languages along with a mechanism to present the appropriate local language to the user or rely on the user to have the necessary language tools stored local on the user device.
Yet another problem facing web services developers is the inability to allow users to input content in the web service in the user's local language. Again, to collect data in multiple languages requires the user device to have the appropriate language mechanisms installed locally on the user device.
In addition, web service developers also wish to display their content to the user in a particular format and style (e.g., font type, font size, font weight). However, users often “see” the content differently than what was intended by the developer when the user device does not have a required tool to display the content in the intended format. For example, a web service may wish to display content in a particular font having a specific size and weight, however the user device must have the capability to recognize and display the specified font and style. This is a significant limitation since many user devices, particularly those in underdeveloped countries, lack robust font and style presentation options and functionality.
Moreover, in many instances, web service developers are unable to present content in an intended format without conflicting with certain local language conditions including formation and grammar rules. As such, developers are unable to satisfy both their presentation requirements and the applicable local language rules when validating user-inputted content provided to the web service. As the global reach of web services and the emergence of user devices expands, efficient delivery of content in a format and style selected by the developer in a language appropriate for the user continues to be a priority.